Social sciences

Fair housing: a history

Article Abstract:

The history of legislative efforts to promote fair housing and end discrimination date back to the passage of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which guaranteed the rights of people to buy, rent, and sell real property regardless of their race. President John K. Kennedy started the most recent legislative efforts to promote fair housing in 1962 when he issued an executive order promoting equal opportunity in housing. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 Section VI forbade discrimination in housing receiving federal assistance, and the Supreme Court in 1968 disallowed discrimination in all housing, public and private. Other major legislation that promoted fair housing includes the Fair Housing Act of 1968, the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, and the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974.

Resident initiatives: hope or hoax?

Article Abstract:

Public housing programs that would empower tenants are being promoted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Such programs as Project Self-Sufficiency and Operation Bootstrap aim to elevate the quality of life and develop a sense of community in the housing developments. Housing activists, however, see this move by the HUD to encourage resident management and homeownership as a shifting of responsibilities for the large number of public housing units to the residents.